Ana was left alone, surrounded by bodies. What now? She sent a question to Lia.

Well, lying got us to this point so I suggest honesty.

And what if that honesty gets us killed, or worse?

Then we run. There are no good choices here, no anymore since you did the whole stabby thing.

Ana winced. Yeah, point taken, won’t happen again. Her clothes, while in tatters, were still covering her enough so she got down to laying the bodies of fallen soldiers in a line. It was the least she could do, and the only thing she could think of doing. After that was done, she packed her gear as well, finding the knife she had used in the dirt. Still covered with her own blood. The phone was thankfully undamaged, so she could return it to Nathaniel without worry.

She wrapped it in some cloth and placed it in her pack. Then she got what little alcohol was left in the turned-over pitcher, drinking it as she waited. Several minutes later half of her team came running with a dozen more individuals, Nathaniel among them. They came expecting a fight, but only found a row of bodies, and Ana sitting with her back turned to them.

Nathaniel called her name and she slowly rose, her eyes fixed on the ground. She was ready to jump forward and start running, but once she heard their voices the shame had stopped in her tracks. And then he hugged her. It was a surprise, she expected having to defend herself while fleeing. Getting comforted was only a distant hope she did not dare hold.

She turned and buried her head in his shoulder as he patted her back. “Don’t tell them, they wouldn’t understand. I’m going to take you back and we will talk later.” Ana nodded as another round of tears and sobs escaped from her. She hadn’t cried this much since she was a baby.

Nathaniel shooed everyone off, taking Ana back to the city. They got on one of the mounts and headed back to the city. Ana kept silent throughout the ride, once they got to the house they continued towards Nathaniel’s study, one of the guards taking the mount. Ana saw Lili next to the older woman who held her from running towards Ana. She just lowered her head and went on.

The two of them got into Nathaniel's study, the man activating some runes she knew would keep the conversation from spilling out of the room, even if it gets heated. They sat down and Ana broke. She started rambling, telling him everything that had happened and then falling silent when she got to the point of stabbing herself.

It was hard to admit what she did and seeing that she struggled Nathaniel continued.

“Why didn’t you tell me that she was coming to see you?” Ana shrugged.

“I’m not sure. I felt that would be the best way to get answers and take her out without any collateral deaths. And it almost worked.” She shook her head, her voice becoming heavy. “I had her, right in front of me with her back turned. Maybe it wouldn’t have worked, but I didn’t even try. And all those men died while I just sat there. Why were the soldiers even there?”

“A fisherman saw you two flying around, fighting.”

“She killed them all, while all I could do is lay there broken.”

“I don’t understand why she would risk turning you. That seldom happens, usually, they work on breaking down your will. I suspect that’s why she told you about her visit, why she worked on breaking you. It must have failed so she took the risk.”

Ana closed her eyes and took a deep breath before whispering. “She didn’t fail.”

After a few moments, she continued. “She even said so, that she wanted me and was about to leave me while I was laying there broken. But at that point, I had enough.” She pulled the knife from her bag, unwrapping and placing it on the desk. Nathaniel picked it up, looking at the blood on it before realization hit him.

“You didn’t.” Ana nodded. And then told him about the loop she found herself in for what felt like an eternity. “She saved your life with the embrace. What happened after that?”

“She told me that I had a choice. I could come with her or go my own path. And I... I don’t know anymore. In this world, everything I’ve done so far was to train and get stronger so I could return home. But it’s been almost a year, I don’t even know if there is something to return to. And to return I would have to return normal, which I don’t even think is possible anymore, or that I truly want that. I’m tired of big life decisions.” He nodded, silently agreeing with her.

“There is something I didn’t tell you about them, not because it's a secret but because I didn't want to color your opinion with rumors.”

“So you're not certain that the source is reliable?” She brushed away the tears and snot that had built upon her face.

“Indeed, the source being travelers from the north who spin wild tales. As you witnessed, blood magic greatly increases the power a person has. With such power, the orders could have easily taken over the southern lands, but instead, they keep to themselves in the north.” He pulled out a map and laid it on the table. It was unfinished, but Ana could tell that it was supposed to cover a larger area than the maps she saw before.

The continent they were on was in a rough shape of a bean or a kidney, with a large mountain chain cutting off a part of the landmass in the north. “Titan’s chains,” Ana added.

“Yes. What is beyond them, we do not know. But the monsters keep coming from there, and coupled with the ones we have here, well, you would have a first-hand experience.”

“So you think they have something to do with it?”

“The opposite, I believe they act as a mediator between the lands in the north and us. But something has happened, and by the rumors, I heard, that something is a war.”

“Who are they in a war against?”

Nathaniel rolled up the map. “That is the question, but if it continues the situation here will get worse. The kingdom doesn’t have enough manpower to keep its borders safe and to defend itself from monster onslaught coming from the north.” He shook his head. “I’ve gone off-topic. You need to decide what you wish for yourself. If you choose to stay, your condition must be kept secret, the masses wouldn’t be generous if it came out.”

“I figured that, but I don’t know if I can decide. I’m not great at keeping secrets, and if I continue to fight with Ghost they will notice that I am different.”

“You know I am quite jealous of you, as would anyone with magic be.”

Ana frowned. “Of what?”

“Blood magic. It has a bad reputation and it can be used for doing a lot of wrongs, but on the other side it can heal your wounds, increase your raw power, and many other things.”

“My only experience is Lorelai breaking my nose after which it fixed itself. That and well me stabbing myself I guess. But you need blood, and I don’t like the idea of biting people.”

“I can understand, but to every boon, there is a bane.”

“What would you recommend I do?”

“Seeing that you are not looking for me to shrug and tell you it's your choice, I’ll give you my logical answer. Staying would inevitably turn out bad. Deserting would mean the end of rank climbing. So the best possible outcome would be for you to go on assignment somewhere far away. That would give you the opportunity to return once your military service was over. Then with a higher rank or even as a member of the Divenii, anyone sniffing around you could be slapped away.”

“And I just got invited to go north.” She added while slowly nodding her head in understanding.

“Indeed. As much as I hate to suggest that you leave, it would be the logical choice. And if you get credited for solving the whole situation in the north, then you could even be elected king one day.”

“Did you ever try to run for the position?”

“I was a king once, in my earlier days. That's why I have such prestige.”

“Wait, don’t elected kings rule for a lifetime?” He shook his head.

“Usually, but with wizards and those that live longer, the position also has a deadline of seventy-eight years. That’s how long the reign of Sutus The First lasted, and so it got adopted.”

“Alright, so I need to solve something I have no idea if it could be solved?”

“No, that would just be a nice bonus. I would have to talk with the officials to make you one of the Pelezi.”

“Aren’t spies used to target neighboring countries and not monsters?”

“Well, you are not a regular soldier, are you? And if you send us information from the north, it would be enough to quiet anyone speaking against you.” Ana mulled that over for a while. It truly was the best of all available options, and she would get what she wanted in the end. But that meant spying on Lorelai without her finding out.

“How would I send you the information I found?”

“That is the problem. No courier would volunteer for such a task. And up north even a group of a hundred soldiers wouldn’t be safe. We will have to resort to magic.”

“Are there any ways to send messages?”

“That depends.”

“On what?”

He gave her a leveled disappointed look which Ana understood immediately. “It depends on our imagination.”

“Precisely. The biggest problem we have is that there is no way of knowing where exactly you would be.”

They discussed several options for a few hours, using the distraction had released some of the tension she had. Everything had gone to shit in just one day, and she had no one to blame but herself.

The experience of what she first thought was her death was still with her, and it had helped to put many things into context. While in reality less than a day had passed, for her it truly was an eternity. Those memories from the loop and the etherealness were no longer scary, and instead, she found calmness in them.

It was strange but she felt differently than before. The closest she could come to comparing with that was the feeling she got from reading her high school notebooks. The nostalgia, and the sense of maturity it brought.

Maybe it was that I had experienced so much when so little time had passed?

That would be my guess. I must admit that I like the new you. You think differently now, and not in a bad way.

I just hope that it doesn’t lead us into a similar situation.

“Can you do it?” She had zoned out while Nathaniel was speaking. Making a thoughtful face she listened to Lia’s summarization before nodding.

“It would take a bit of trial and error, but the spell is fairly simple.” The idea was to use Ana’s phone as a radio receiver while she used magic to create a radio wave. It was an ingenious idea, and even without her phone, she could have constructed a simple foxhole radio.

It was hard to stop once both of them got into researching and experimenting. Nathaniel had kept anyone that was inquiring on what had transpired out, leaving them to work in peace. The day had turned to night, and then to a day once more while they worked. It was easy for Ana to bury herself in the work, ignoring the impeding drastic change on the horizon.

On one of the pauses, she shared Adrasteia’s riddles she had heard mere moments before waking up. The first one was easy to figure out, but they both struggled with the second one. After explaining she took a nap at Nathaniel's insistence, hoping to get clarification on what to do. She could only hope that the deity would contact her, but instead, her dreams were that of the loop.

In the dream, she was broken again, with memories flashing by her side as they did before. This time, however, all memories were from the new world. Her first time meeting Borka and Nathaniel, sharing in prayer with the big bear of a woman, learning to shape the earth, and to invoke fire with Nathaniel. And several others that had similar motives. But the last one was the odd one out.

It started with her watching a documentary on the manhattan project back home one evening. After that, it quickly switched to her working in some workshop that she had never seen before. There were different pieces of metal and wood everywhere and she was working with Loralai on something.

The components seemed familiar but she couldn't quite figure out what the device was without context. She woke up at noon the second day, finding that Nathaniel was gone for the time being. She talked with Lili, not revealing much of what had happened as Nathaniel had recommended.

It wasn’t hard as the shame and guilt of her actions were still prevalent, and she avoided the subject almost by instinct. While she felt bad about her action she understood them to be the result of her bad experiences coalescing. It wasn’t an excuse, but more of a justification she gave herself. There was no denying that she messed up and had to live with the fallout now, but on the other hand, if she had let Lorelai dig her hooks in her any further, she would have lost all sense of self.

What was more she succeeded in doing something everyone had told was impossible, and was now much stronger for it. With her newfound power, she understood how Lorelai had shrugged off all of her lethal spells. If she had access to fresh blood her injuries could be ignored. The control of her normal spells was amplified while she now also had access to magic that could influence the mind.

She didn’t know how to utilize said magic, but as the plan was for her to go north she would have the opportunity to learn. Nathaniel had returned a few hours after she had woken up. Relaying what she saw only confirmed that her future would indeed be following Lorelai. She knew that staying would only alienate her friends, but the prospect of leaving was hard to swallow.

Her world was about to change once again, but at least this time it was due to her own mistakes and not by accident. It was both a demoralizing and an acceptable fact. This time she had a clear target for her blame, which made the process easier.

Over the rest of the day they refined her spell, and when evening came so did guests. Ghost, Renvi, Haguna, and Desmond showed up. She was silent while Nathaniel filled their guests with the story the two had concocted. As best stories do, it contained an altered truth.

They didn’t reveal Ana’s full change, but only that she had the opportunity to leave safely for the north. Ghost was the only one to object but even he understood the importance of the information Ana could send them back. If the situation in the north could be understood or even better resolved, it would allow the military to focus on more impending trouble.

The kingdom was invaded by the Principality of Sacramento, which was the largest neighbor the Sutus Kingdom had. The Principality had been a province in the time of the Empire, a gift to Sutus’s first son, prince Sacramento. Unline the Kingdom, the Principality was a lot less diverse and had declared several races to be undesirable. That was the reason for the previous invasion a decade ago. At least that was the public’s view, but that was only a casus beli. The true reason was the resources and the trade that the Empire enjoyed on its coast.

While one of the smallest countries on the continent, the Kingdom was by far the wealthiest. They had several trade routes to the southern continent and the rare valuables that were there. Ana was quite interested in the history of the continent, but there was no easy way to gain such information so she had focused more on magic.

But the geopolitical structure of the states had reminded her of the bronze age collapse in Anatolia, with their monsters here representing the so-called sea people that had pillaged so many cities. And with the monster activity only on the rise, everyone was expecting harder days to come, with the possibility of the Kingdom collapsing.

Again Ana was in awe of how much clout Nathaniel had, as no one questioned a single word he had said. At that moment she had genuinely desired that for herself. Before, Ana was never one for praise and glory, but back on earth, the ways one went to achieve fame and celebrity status was disgusting to Ana.

She despised celebrities and could only name a few famous actors. It went so far that she didn’t have an official social media presence, still using them anonymously to communicate with various groups she held a shared interest with. There were prominent figures in science she knew a lot, but every day people only knew the most famous ones, like Ana knew the most famous celebrities that keep appearing everywhere.

By the end of the meeting only the Hag was opposed to the idea of sending Ana alone, so a concession was made. Ghost’s war band would be reinforced with another group, increasing their presence and excursion to the north. The official mission was that they would venture north to gather information, while the underlying goal was to establish a semi-permanent presence on the Whispering mountain.

From there Ana had a safe place to run to in case of an emergency, or if their haphazard radio system broke down she could relay information to Ghost. Ana hated the idea as it would put Ghost’s band in even more danger than usual, as they would need to be on the lookout for both monsters and hostile clansmen. The stone forts she had constructed and reinforced in the last excursion did help to lessen her worry. As did the fact that there would be two full warbands there.

Once the meeting was concluded, Ana had a week and a half to prepare before she would have to leave. The only task she had was to refine her spell, which she slowly worked with Nathaniel over the next few days. Borka still hadn’t returned, and Ana felt bad that she would leave without saying goodbye to her good friend.

The rest of the time she spent with her friends from the band, drinking and talking. They had enough history over the last half a year that she was considered a full member and not just a newcomer.